New Sussex Studios Wedding Promo Cards

Today we received our new Sussex Studios Wedding Promotional Cards from the printer that we created for the new year. We have been busy getting ready for the new Wedding Season.



We will be participating in the Today's Bride January 2009 Show at the Cleveland I-X Center on January 18th. If anyone is interested in attending please feel free to contact our studio for your complimentary ticket (while supplies last). Doors open from 10:00am until 5:00pm
New York Style Fashion Shows at 11:00, 12:30, 2:00, and 3:30. We hope to see you there.



All Photographs © 2008 John C. Kieger / www.SussexStudio.com

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Followup to Canon 5D Video post

In my last post "Still Photographers & Videographers Intertwining as One" I mentioned the new Canon 5D and its awesome video functions.  I just came across a great example of the new Canon 5D Mark II video feature in action utilizing, of all things, Nikon glass as "filmed" by Dan Chung!  The lenses he used were:
Nikon 17-35 f2.8
Nikon 80-200 f.8
Nikon 85mm f2.8 shift lens
Nikon 16mm f2.8 fisheye
Zeiss/Contax 85mm f1.4

You can see the low resolution here but I encourage you to click on the link to go directly to vimeo and see the HD version!

Canon EOS5DmkII, One night in Beijing. from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Still Photographers & Videographers Intertwining as One

I videoed my kids singing in the church choir like I have done in the past using the Canon G9 on November 16th. It was an easy task with remarkable results. The camera was light enough to just rest on the pew in front of me. When I was done, I tucked it away in my suit coat pocket. No tripod & no hassle. I use to take both a video camera and a still camera to important events. Now I carry my G9 point and shoot everywhere. Fairmount Presbyterian Church liked the video so much they decided to incorporate it into their website and e-newsletter. The church has used its video footage and has pulled stills from it for its website too!



We are living in an interesting era where Still Photographers and Videographers will begin to be able to accept and deliver jobs with one camera for both applications. The Canon 5D Mark II (available in stores in a week or so) now supports HD Video. The Canon 5D series is one of two camera bodies that Canon makes utilizing its full frame image sensor.

5D Mark II Quick Specs: 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor & Full HD Video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution for up to 4GB per clip with HDMI output for HD viewing of stills and video. In other words, video as high as 1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps for up to 12 minutes (Quicktime 1080p H.264; 38.6 Mbits/sec with PCM sound).

Granted it can only record for 12 minutes right now at the highest resolution but it can take advantage of Canon's fast L series lenses to produce a product that many videographers could not produce at such a price point.

Imagine capturing a video with a 50mm f 1.2 lens and then being able to switch over to capturing incredible stills.

I don't think it will necessarily be a situation of Still Photographers or Videographers taking over or dominating each others industry to make the other extinct-- I think it is more likely that both will adapt to the changing technology and the individuals in both industries will continue to flourish. Only time will tell what will really happen.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

30th Suprise Birthday Party: a PreBlog

To learn more please visit 30th Suprise Birthday Party: a PreBlog

Adobe announces immediate availability of PhotoShop CS4 as well as the whole Creative Suite line

Adobe is now shipping Photoshop CS4 as well as the rest of the Creative Suite 4 line of products. PC users will be happy to know that Photoshop CS4 is now 64 Bit. Mac users will have to wait for the next release when Adobe completely ports Photoshop from Mac's Carbon to Cocoa environment. It should be noted that the Lightroom 2.0 is 64 bit for both Mac and PC users since Adobe wrote it in Cocoa for the Mac.

The biggest enhancement in Photoshop is the Content Aware Scaling feature. It essentially has an algorithm that compresses the areas of least complexity. Photoshop's camera raw now features some of the camera raw layer masking that was first introduced in Lightroom 2.0. I suggest that you visit both Russel Brown's site resource site as well as the National Association of Photoshop Professional's Learning Center site on PS CS4.

If you have not purchased Lightroom 2.0 and Photoshop CS4 yet, Adobe is offering a 30% discount on Lightroom 2.0 when you order it directly through Adobe at the same time you order any product with Photoshop in it such as Photoshop CS4, Creative Suite Design Premium CS4, etc.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Apple unveils new 24" LED Display and new MacBook Pro & MacBooks

The 24" LED Display that Apple unveiled today has a built in iSight Camera, mic, and speakers. It was built to work with the MacBook and MacBook Pro right out of the box. It connects to computers with the new "ultracompact Mini DisplayPort connector." There is now one cable that splits off from the monitor into three attachments-- one for the display (Mini DisplayPort), one for USB 2.0, and one for power for the MacBook Pro & MacBook. Apple has made it easy for its portable notebook computer users to go from an on the road portable environment to a desktop configuration in little to no time. You just attach one cable with three connectors to your MacBook Pro or MacBook computer. This is the long awaited new Cinema Display. Apple states that "The LED Cinema Display is the most environmentally friendly display Apple has ever created." The LED Cinema display will be available for purchase in November for the same price as the Apple 23" Display with many more features packed in.


Apple also announced the new MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro computers that are available now

for shipping. The 17" MacBook Pro is expected to be updated within then next couple of months.

Some of the biggest differences are the new buttonless multitouch trackpad (see photo above) and the new ultra MiniDisplayPort (that can be seamlessly integrated with the LED Cinema Display).

The new 15 inch MacBook Pro's connectors and ports are:

• MagSafe power port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
• Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
• Mini DisplayPort
• Audio line in
• Audio line out
• ExpressCard/34 slot
• Kensington lock slot

Unfortunately it no longer comes with a FireWire (FW) 400 port. Two Firewire ports can come in handy if you have a device such as a portable 2.5" hard drive that does not have two FW ports on it. You will now need to buy a FW hub.

The new MacBooks are made of aluminum like the MacBook Pros but they no longer have a FireWire port on them. An unfortunate fact, since it was Apple the originally developed FireWire IEEE 1394 in the first place. You currently can still purchase the old white plastic MacBook 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo machine with a FireWire 400 port.


Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

"Megapixels: How Much Is Enough?" -question Answered by Grey

I have been asked this question many times and just had a client ask this question a week ago and I tried to explain that there is more to it than the MegaPixel count-- noise and individual pixel sizes and how close the pixels are together matter just as much if not more.

This week I just came across an article in Digital Photo Pro magazine by Tim Grey that best describes this very issue. He finally concludes the article by stating:

Perhaps in the future you’ll hear fewer photographers ask, “How many megapixels are in your camera?”, and more ask, “What’s the full-well limit of the photodetectors in your camera?” and “How small is the inter-pixel spacing on your sensor?” Or perhaps photographers will learn to appreciate that the technology in their digital cameras is incredibly advanced and beyond the ability of most photographers to truly understand, so they can go back to focusing on what really matters to photographers: the final image. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I encourage everyone to read his article in its entirety. (ed. note: if the links to this article no longer work, they may not be available on-line from Digital Photo Pro Magazine. For reading so please go to your library, etc. or contact Tim Grey or Digital Photo Pro Magazine and inquire about obtaining a reprint. Published in the September/October 2008 issue of Digital Photo Pro | Volume 6 Number 5)

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Presidential Election and the Funny times we live in: John Kieger '08?

Watch and who knows, you too may want to run for President!

(Editors note: Link & Video no longer work since election. Point of video-- anyone could type in their name and it would instantly appear on the video and the reporters talked about an "unknown" who got internet support and became a serious political contender and candidate "virtually overnight". The entered name appeared on a taxi cab, headline of a newspaper, a billboard, and finally an "elderly woman" was asked by a reporters who she supported. She said "I can show you" and she turned around and lifted up the backside of her lower shirt and there was a tattoo with the candidates name and '08. The reporter then said "Looks like this is one candidate that is coming up from behind!" It was a pretty neat concept with the aid of a website and some scripts being able to instantly change the candidate's name on everything in the story whether it be a large billboard, a bus, or a tattoo on an elderly woman. It was easier to be seen then described. Sorry you missed it. -John)

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

PBS Debuts Series on the FSA OWI Photographers

“DOCUMENTING THE FACE OF AMERICA: ROY STRYKER AND THE FSA/OWI PHOTOGRAPHERS” documents the Face of America and features oncamera interviews with FSA photographers Gordon Parks, Rondal Partridge and Louise Rosskam.


Above you will recognize the famous Dorthea Lange photo "Migrant Mother" of Florence Thompson with three of her children in the photograph. This version is, however, the un-retouched version (with the wood tent pole off to the right in the foreground).  We all are so very fortunate to have access to these photographs. This and many others can be found in the Library of Congress arcvhives.


This photograph is probably a lot less known. It can also be found on the website of the Library of Congress. Ansel Adam's photo 'Roy Takeno (Editor) and group reading Manzanar paper [i.e. Los Angeles Times] in front of office, Yuichi Hirata, Nabuo Samamura, Manzanar Relocation Center, California. It is not part of the FSA/OWI it is from the same era and the copyright office notes that "there are no known restrictions on Ansel Adams' Manzanar War Relocation Center photographs. Privacy and publicity rights may apply." Ansel Adams donated these photographs to the Library of Congress back from 1965-1968 I encourage you to browse the Collections yourself to see what you can find. Please note that each set of photographs has their own usage restrictions and if you are interested in using a photo you should click on the "Bibliographic" information link and then on the "How to obtain copies of this item" information link.


Many may be surprised to know that there were photographers commisioned to create images in color as well. This photo was created in either 1942 or 1943 by John Vachon and is titled "Negro boy near Cincinnati, Ohio."

The website of the Library of Congress
describes their archive collection: "The photographs in the Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1944. This U.S. government photography project was headed for most of its existence by Roy E. Stryker, who guided the effort in a succession of government agencies: the Resettlement Administration (1935-1937), the Farm Security Administration (1937-1942), and the Office of War Information (1942-1944). The collection also includes photographs acquired from other governmental and non-governmental sources, including the News Bureau at the Offices of Emergency Management (OEM), various branches of the military, and industrial corporations. In total, the black-and-white portion of the collection consists of about 171,000 black-and-white film negatives, encompassing both negatives that were printed for FSA-OWI use and those that were not printed at the time . . ."

This should be a worthwhile program to watch on PBS. It Debuts on Monday 18 August 2008 and repeats thereafter.

“If you could get all the work that Stryker was responsible for, you would see the face of America in the 1930s and ‘40s that nobody has ever seen together.”
– Gordon Parks

The New York Times describes the series as: “Documenting the Face of America: Roy Stryker and the F.S.A./O.W.I. Photographers,” an hourlong documentary on most PBS stations Monday night. The film shows how Mr. Stryker turned a small government agency’s New Deal project to document poverty into a visual anthology of thousands of images of American life in the 1930s and early ’40s that helped shape modern documentary photography”

You can read more about the series in a New York Times article or you can download the Press Release. Make sure you visit PBS to check your local times. The program has its Cleveland Digital TV Debut 25.1 at 10PM on Auguts 18th & its Analog TV Debut at 10PM on August 30th on Chanel 25 WVIZ PBS Cleveland-- don't ask me why. (Note: in digital TV lingo, the .x represents the alternate channels that a broadcaster offers such as 25.1, 25.2, 25.3, etc.)

All Photographs © Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division & the respective photographer / www.LoC.gov

What a great legacy that these photographers and our country has left to us and to our children.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Cheap eats in Thailand

I just came across this video from Ron Fowler, or better know to many Clevelanders as Flower Clown from a trip in 2007 to Thailand. He shows how one can get great food for only $3, it may be more now due to inflation and the declining US $.


Ron has traveled across the world sharing his clowning abilities. You can see more of his travel videos on his website He also has some video tutorials on balloon making. I have photographed and worked with Ron on different projects before and you can see a photograph of him performing at the Shaker Family Center's Family Fall Fun Fest in a previous blog post right here.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Adobe Lightroom 2.0 Has Been Released!

Well, it's official-- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has been released today! One of the features many hard core photoshop users can now enjoy is the dual monitor support. It also supports the ability to create custom camera profiles. I am not too familiar with that feature, but if it allows you to profile your camera-- then many of my colleagues may make the switch from Capture One to Lightroom.

I have used Lightroom from day #1-- I Beta tested both Lightroom 1.0 as well as Lightroom 2.0. Lightroom has become the industry standard in stand alone raw processors. By stand alone-- I mean separate from, lets say, photoshop, that processes raw files and does so much more. If you have Photoshop, you still probably want Lightroom for it's speed and ease of use. It was designed with photographers in mind-- with our input from beta testing! Lightroom does a fantastic job integrating in with Photoshop. If you are upgrading to Lightroom from Lightroom 1.x, the upgrade is $99 and available for immediate download from Adobe or for $94.99 through Amazon w/ free shipping starting on the 15th of August. If you are new to Lightroom and do not have Photoshop CS3, you can bundle the two from Adobe and save $150. If you already have PS CS3 or do not need it and just want Lightroom 2.0 it will cost $299

Not sure what you want to do? Adobe is offering a free Test Drive for 30 days.


The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) give a great synopsis of the new features with some great screen shots. They also have a listing of some great links to other Lightroom 2 resources.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Trayless Raid Drives anyone?

Today I installed a new (RTX200 H-QR) trayfree Wiebetech External Raid Hard Drive system. The Raid System takes SATA hard drives and has a quad interface of eSATA, Firewire 800/400, and USB 2.0. Inserting the hard drives is a piece of cake. You open up the door and slide in the hard drive. It makes it a lot easier not having to install the hard drive into a tray or sled system first.

The major benefit of having a Raid Hard Drive system is its built in backup feature. I am using a Raid 1 or mirrored hard drive configuration. Everytime my computer writes to the external hard drive enclosure, the hardware controller in the external hard drive enclosure writes to both hard drives simultaneously. If one of the hard drives fails, I just insert another hard drive into the raided hard drive enclosure and it automatically rebuilds or copies the information from the one drive over to the other on a block by block basis. I also take the added precaution of having an additional drive that I rotate in so at any given time I have three copies of most of my data on hard drives.


Photograph ©2008 WiebeTech / www.Wiebetech.com

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Phone Call Database

I just came across a great new resource on the web for when you receive unsolicited phone calls. You can find them at WhoCallsMe.com

They have a very easy to use website with a brief explanation of the service:

Recent Phone Call Reports

This is a user supplied database of phone numbers of telemarketers, non-profit organizations, charities, political surveyors, SCAM artists, and other companies that don't leave messages, disconnect once you answer, ignore the Do-Not-Call List regulations, and simply interrupt your day.

If you received a strange call, most likely you are not the only one. Search for this phone number to see the reports of others. If there are no reports yet, leave your comment to start a conversation.

I can really see this site being useful when I receive calls whether I am interested in the services or not, I can always look up the business first to see how reputable they have been in the past.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Heather & John return to CWRU for an engagement session

Heather and John new each other from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, OH, so it was fitting that I photographed them in University Circle around the Cleveland Museum of Art and the CWRU campus.












All Photographs © 2008 John C. Kieger / www.SussexStudio.com

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Boston University Cleveland Clinic Photo Session

Today I photographed a Cleveland Clinic attorney, Stephanie Switzer, for a Boston University School of Law Brochure at the old Cleveland MBNA headquarters that is now occupied by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

















All Photographs © 2008 John C. Kieger / www.KiegerPhoto.com

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

My Little Helper Carissa

I always look forward to my kids coming home from school. My wife and I are blessed to have the school bus drop our kids off practically on our doorstep. I decided to shovel snow while I waited for the bus to arrive.

Yesterday I did not get a chance to shovel the snow since we had an early call and start time on the other side of town for the Commercial Video Production. I always hate to drive over snow in the driveway-- doing so compresses it and makes it more difficult to clear and causes the snow to turn to ice. It was bad weather yesterday and I broke my rule to get to the set.

This afternoon was my window of opportunity to clear away the snow, ice and slush before it froze again. It's always a pain to remove wet and heavy snow. My youngest child, Carissa, blessed me with her enthusiasm to pitch in and clear the driveway with me. She did an awesome job. We worked together outside for about an hour. As we finished up I decided to turn the work into a photo op. I wanted to share the moment with you.

All these photos were taken on a Canon G9. I am so glad that I purchased the Canon G9 Digital Point and Shoot at the end of last year. It's a super camera and the best production camera I have owned to date! It also takes amazing video. All that from a camera that can fit in my shirt pocket.

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them-- no one knows when our loved ones may depart so we should try to let our loved ones know how much we care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

In front of Camera!

John gets a touch up from stylist Kirsten Roberts.

(One Handed Self portrait taken with a Canon G9 camera. It was more challenging to take a photo myself without moving my head toward the camera-- did not want to make Kirsten's job any harder. It guess you could call this my attempt to take a one handed Candid Self Portrait)

Today was a different experience for me. I drove my kids to a Commercial Video production shoot and I ended up being a part of the production as an extra. Not sure how, when, were and why it will be used. If I would say more, I would be breaking my disclosure agreement. The only thing I can say is that I was an extra and I got paid for it.

I found this experience very educational. For the first time in my life I was on the other side of a Production company that I had nothing to do with. I had friends who were professionals in the industry photograph and video tape my wedding-- so that was different too! For commercial work, in the past when I was used, I was actually brought on as part of the production team and my hand would be used or even once, I was the assistant for a photo ad and the model all at the same time. That ad ran about 10 years ago for University Med Net. I ended up having my head take up practically the full page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. After it ran, I remember running around my neighborhood recycling the recycled newspaper to get extra copies. That's when I learned how out of registration the color on the Plain Dealer was. I was in a B&W add in which they added a Rubick's Cube in Post. It appeared in my hand in Color.

Unfortunately when I have photographed for newspapers such as the New York Times, I have to go to the newsstand and buy a couple of copies. Newspapers never provide tear sheets. Even though I have photographed for the Boston Globe, I have never seen my photos that have appeared in them. They do not publish locally like the NY Times. Magazine and client work is different-- they provide copies as part of our licensing agreement which makes it a lot easier to acquire tear sheets. After one job is done, I'm off to the next assignment and I do not have the time to track down my tear sheets.

I have to give the director of todays production a lot of credit. He did a great job running the production despite the fact that some of the hired talent gave their unsolicited advice on how things should be to everyone in the room. I chalk this up to lack of experience on their part. I remember hearing a story about a photo assistant that assisted world renowned Cleveland photographer Bob Bender. The assistant suggested to Bob and the client that the tin ceiling be a different color. The client agreed. Bob had to loose a day to paint the ceiling. After the photography was completed, they lost another day to paint the ceiling back to its original color. Needles to say, Bob never used the assistant again and the client ended up going with the original photo before the ceiling was painted. If you see something wrong in a photo, let the director or photographer know in a discreet way. An extra set of eyes and ears can be a good thing, but you don't know what the camera is seeing unless you are looking through the camera!

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them-- no one knows when our loved ones may depart so we should try to let our loved ones know how much we care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Keeping Your Creativity Alive Weekly

(magazine above: February 2008 Creativity Cover)

As a creative professional I am constantly looking for avenues to expand my creative thinking and to learn and view work from other creatives. I am a member of ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) and our local chapter ASMP/ONC use to have a program entitled "Ideas and Images" This was a fantastic program that I would love to see brought back. The organizer would select 4-5 presentors and have them present anything they wished for 20 minutes. Such notable presenters were F. Eugene Smith who is an Architect who discussed beautifying our cities with signage and minimizing the ugliness-- through burying overhead electrical and telephone wires, etc. He showed some before and after slides that really made us think how much more creative and beautiful things would be if we really took the time to care and think about beautifying our environment. There was another presenter that discussed his interests in Tea Ceremonies.The program ran for about two hours and everyone loved the program. The programs ran for a number of years back in the olden days of the last century and utilized slide projectors before we all had Power Point or Keynote presentations. (editors note: I just came back from a conference in Dayton, OH and there was one presenter that used a slide projector. I can't remember the last time before this that I saw a slide projector being used in this century. Funny how times change!) This program was what first attracted me to ASMP and can be credited for having me join ASMP back in 1994.

I found a weekly substitute for this Ideas and Images program through Creativity. Creativity is a monthly magazine (in print form) that I subscribe to that has started to offer a weekly top 5 video synopsis (on their web site) of the top 5, or to quote Creativity: "a weekly video recap of the Creative you need to know." Creativity goes on to describe: "it's all here in a concentrated, 5-minute, 5-item video treat" You can visit the top 5 at Creativity-Online.com/top5


Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them-- no one knows when our loved ones may depart so we should try to let our loved ones know how much we care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Senator McCain speaks to NE Ohioans in Rocky River (Cleveland)

Today was another political rally that I was out on assignment for-- this time covering John McCain's Rocky River Town Hall meeting. The highlight of the event was the audiences question and answer session. Senator McCain had great expressions when he answered the audience. One man asked if he (McCain) supported the draft. McCain said that he would enact special legislation for a draft of only one-- that would be him-- the man who asked the question. McCain then popped back to seriously answer the question.

My favorite photographs from this rally (like the Obama Cleveland rally) were from a lower angle of coverage so I could include the more colorful background behind McCain and to add more depth to the photographs of people in soft focus infront of McCain. The McCain rally was smaller than both Obama rallies and the backgrounds had a more polished look-- they had less area to decorate and therefore were able to more thoroughly decorate the backgrounds with the American flag, McCain posters, etc.


Rocky River Rally:

Press Q&A after Rally:

All images ©2008 John C. Kieger / www.KiegerPhoto.com


Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

GasBuddy's Map Feature: the Google maps of Gas Prices

Many of you are familiar with Google Maps and I'm sure a good many of you have searched the internet for great values on gas prices. Imagine if the two could be combined. Well the wait is over. I just stumbled accross a site that offers prices posted on a map that uses the Ajax platform to allow you to move around and zoom in or out of the map. The site is GasBuddy's Maps!

Give it a try for yourself:

Search for gas prices by US Zip Code

If you would rather search the site with a traditional text search you can do that as well (see below):

Search for gas prices by US Zip Code

Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them-- no one knows when our loved ones may depart so we should try to let our loved ones know how much we care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)

Barack Obama Rallies in NE Ohio (Akron + Cleveland)

Today was a busy day for me. I was out on assignment covering both the Akron and the Cleveland "Keeping America's Promise" rallies with Barack Obama. Obama ended up arriving a 1 & 1/2 hours late to Akron which in turn threw off the Cleveland rally as well.

Both rallies were very different atmospheres. The Akron rally was a smaller and more intimate event whereas the Cleveland event was significantly larger and had more people in the backgrounds that detracted from the photographs. For some of the coverage in Cleveland I opted for a lower angle of coverage to give a cleaner background behind Obama and to add more depth to the photographs. I ended up leaving the Akron rally early to allow time to arrive in Cleveland so I only was able to photograph the meeting the crowd in Cleveland.


Akron Rally:

Cleveland Rally:

Meeting the crowd in Cleveland:

All images ©2008 John C. Kieger / www.KiegerPhoto.com


Until I Blog again, remember not to take life too seriously and make sure you tell someone that is close to you how much you care for them.

Thanks for reading,

John :)